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Monday, February 20, 2012

Royal Icing Henna Transfers

My partner in crime, Ryam, from The Inspired Mama, and I are throwing a Princess Jasmine inspired party for her soon-to-be five year old, Samirah. We're both not too keen on the whole licensed character bit, so Jasmine will be making a minor appearance in the form of some sugar cookies on the dessert table. So I guess it's really more Arabian Nights than Jasmine we're talking about. In trying to come up with some fresh ideas, I started playing around with henna tattoos and how I could incorporate them into the dessert table. That's when I started making these henna royal icing transfers to use as a major-wow cupcake topper. Below is the surprisingly simple step by step tutorial. Enjoy!

Start with a line drawing of your design. I took an image I'd googled then finessed it to fit the shape and size I needed it.

Place a sheet of wax paper over your paper template and start tracing your design using semi-stiff royal icing in your piping bag fitted with a number 1 tip. Make sure to have some thicker sections for stability. I went over some lines twice to build them up. Also be sure to connect all lines to another point of your design so it is more sturdy when peeling off your wax paper.

Keep building and adding on.

You can use a heat gun to speed drying time.

When completely dry (COMPLETELY - no cheating) begin removing your transfers by slowly peeling back a small section from the wax paper. Don't go too far or the pressure of your fingers are likely to break your work and induce a steady stream of curses.

Using a large offset spatula, slowly start working your design off the wax paper by sliding it under the transfer at the starting point you created by peeling it away from the wax paper. Use a smooth steady motion and watch your spatula to see if it is catching on any of the design elements. This is easier than you might guess. I only had two tragedies and one was completely salvaged by putting the largest chunk back on the wax paper and re-piping the missing part. I just let it dry and removed as described above.

And there you have it. Beautiful lacy royal icing pieces to use as appliques on cakes, or in my case tall, standing cupcake toppers. Obviously, you can pipe in any color you like or take it to the next level and give them the Midas touch:

I love this stuff BUT it's kinda pricy ($9.99 at my cake supply store) and does not go as far as I would like. I chose the spray because I worried about painting with a brush on such a delicate canvas.

How pretty would these be in white used on a pale vintage-inspired lace cake? Hmmm... Think I'll have to add that to the "must try" list.